When New Plans Start Early

My year-long experiment will wrap up in February, and I feel like I've made some strides, but when I look back on the last 11 months, I see what looks like groundwork for a much bigger trajectory. I used to think that I was going to have to look a certain way or weigh a certain number in order to love and appreciate my body, but one strange thing that has happened over the course of this first year of G3 is that I noticed that the more I cared for my body, the more I loved it. I was doing the practical (eat healthy, eschew toxins, keep it simple), but I was feeling the ephemeral. An unexpected sense of well-being and acceptance that I expected to have to earn "the hard way". If you've known me a long time, you know that body-love seemed about as likely as a lottery jackpot.

But little by little, something started to change. I stopped grimacing in the mirror and loathing my gray hair and started actually loving it. I started looking at food as something to choose thoughtfully rather than a system of rewards or punishments ("I ate 3 cookies yesterday, so today it's spinach and veg broth for me..."). And I started feeling that my stuff was, miraculously, just stuff. And now that most of it has been packed in boxes for 2 months, I realized that I don't miss 85% of it. So when we move into our new place next month, I want to be super-hardcore and honest with the question "DID I MISS THIS?" and if I didn't, maybe I'll put it back in a box for a while, and ponder whether it's time for some stuff and I to part ways. We have 3 dozen boxes of unopened belongings, but we have somehow managed to scrape through almost 2 months without any of it. Hm.

Anyway, all of this has felt really really REALLY good. And exciting. So I didn't plan to give up on the blog or the goals when Feb. 22, 2012 rolls around. But my hair will be totally grayed out by then, so I won't need to worry about that part, so I was going to focus on the food. We'll have space for container gardens in our new place, and a much more cooking-friendly kitchen, so I was all jonesing to announce that 2012 G3 would be a Real Food Year. We'll just replace the gray of hair with the gray areas of knowing the best way to go about that.

But, as they say, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

And so, after suffering in silence for a few months, I finally went to the doctor about some persistent GI unpleasantness that I was SURE I could "healthy-eat" my way out of. But 4 months later, I had not succeeded, so I went to the doctor. And guess what? That was a really good idea. She recommended a very strict elimination diet to try to determine whether a late-flaring food sensitivity may be the culprit. So, for the last 4 days I have eaten veggies, nuts, eggs, fruit and some particular grains like quinoa and spelt. And do you know what? (I would NOT have believed it if it were not so dramatic) I feel SOOOOOOOOOOO much better, I can't even describe it.

Sure, it is a lot more work. But I was going to spend the whole next year un-processing food and learning to really embrace large armloads of produce, so it really feels like the boot in the pants I needed to jump start a clean start.

Grain-free is even more restricted than gluten-free, but after I've been on the strict diet for 2 weeks, I can try to add corn or oats or something back into my diet and see if I have any adverse affects. Honestly, I feel so much better after being so uncomfortable for so long, I'm not sure I even want to do the "untest".

What is different?

• GI symptoms have largely gone away
• After 4 days of anti-inflammatory food, I am wearing my "skinny jeans" for the first time in months without them feeling tight, and my muffin top has vanished. At least in these jeans.
• My skin is clearer
• My joints don't ache like an old lady
• Even my back and neck and legs feel, weirdly, less tight and more limber

I really REALLY hope that this is not all in my head. I still have some more medical tests to do to make sure that food sensitivities are really the only issue to deal with, but I am hopeful that eating "clean" will turn my digestive ship around.

Les and I bought this book to help me get started:

All the recipes in here are vegan and gluten free, so it's a good resource. I am not vegan, and she uses some grains that are technically gluten free but still on my "eliminate" list, but this book goes a long way towards getting me started with a new food plan.

Please remember that I'm not a doctor, and I'm not recommending a grain-free diet to anyone, and we haven't made many of the cookbook's recipes. I'm just sharing what's up with ME these days, and how it has helped me to follow my doctor's advice. Go to your doctor, and get her advice before doing anything that anybody mentions on this blog :)

So there you have it. I'm a grain-free vegetarian for the time being, and I'm about to start planning out a grander-than-practical container garden scheme, chucking out unneeded possessions, setting up a Cooking Kitchen, and re-teaching myself how to eat. And keeping the Grace always in focus. Oh, and trying to keep greening along the way.